Hypopharyngeal stage 3 N2 M0 Chemoradiotherapy

Hi Michail and welcome to the forum. I’m sure somebody will pop on to help but in the meantime you could look in he search function 

https://community.macmillan.org.uk/search?q=Hypopharyngeal&group=100#serpsort=date%20desc

I feel sure that chemoradiation for most oropharyngeal cancer follows the same sort of route. If you click on MarkEL  

Mark has a really good diary of his treatment. 
Best wishes. 

That's what I had, nice to meet somebody the same!!! Are you  HPV positive???    Its not rare but not very common either.  I had 7 weeks of chemoradiation completed treatment in Sept/Oct 2022.  . The treatment and after effects were brutal, painful and very frightening but the cancer has gone.   I have lost 3.5 stone and have been 100%: reliant on a RIG because my throat is so bad.  8 months on, I still can't taste, eat or swallow and am now on pump feeding which is easier.  I had some very dark days but I got through those, its crucial that you're  kind to yourself, listen to your body and take the pain killers!  I can't tell you how important it is. You'll probably get a further week on before it hits!

  I have a problem swallowing as a direct result of RT.  I have spasms in  the muscle that runs alongside the voice box.  It means I choke and food banks up in my throat and gets stuck. Can be very scary. Funnily enough I saw  ENT consultat yesterday and I'm looking at surgery su now which I wasnt expecting or wanting. . He would cut/release muscle to enable me to swallow its risky because of the location and there's no guarantee it will work.  I can't live hooked up to a pump so I'll take the risk.  I still have a lot of swelling and inflammation it's a major hitter around the throat, it affects so much.  Still have gunky mouth.

I see a kinesiologist whose been really good for me.  She found my neck was out of synch and kinked she manipulated it back which helped, It was due to RT and location of tumour (around voive box) Pirifossa.. . Basically her suggestions were: I use hemp oil in a base cream that I massage into my neck and upper chest everyday, it's very good for swelling and inflammation, Buy it on Amazon just be careful.  I also found Vick helped. She also advised me to go on a high dose of Vit B complex, Vit D, Selenium, Vit E, magnesium &  Zinc. I bought Vitabiotics High Strength which were affordable and the right doses.   I do believe that after a few weeks they have really helped.  The treatment which nobody told me about, leaves you absolutely depleted it causes a lot of iissues.  . I used to crush them and put it through RIG I can more or less swallow them now.

I still have 'the voice' it comes and goes and I still have this feeling of swelling in my throat. I have to say you do get used to a lot of it but it can be very frightening when you feel that you can't breathe or swallow.  It's a horrible place to have a tumour, mine was a 4 when I was eventually diagnosed, which took months and it was the tail end of covid otherwise I would have been diagnosed much sooner!!!   

You're the first person I have come across that's had hyphophangeal  cancer. I'm more than happy to share my experiences and maybe we can support each other..  It's been the hardest thing I've ever had to do.  I managed to retire early from teaching English you might be in a very different position to you.  I just wish I had rested more, taken pain killers properly and had a lot more knowledge about eating and drinking. My situation now is I have to decide about surgery and I have to learn to eat again, I haven't eaten a proper meal since last August!!!!

Good luck, listen to your body, be kind to yourself and take the painkillers!!!!!      Pauline.   X

Hi Michail. I’ll try to balance things out a little. I have a friend who had exactly the same cancer. We met here in the forum. She must be three years clear by now. She had induction chemo with cisplatin and 5FU which was pretty harsh followed by radiation. Within a year of treatment end she married her long time partner, they moved house and she is well to this day. Treatment is pretty rough but an awful lot of people make a really good recovery. 
One of our community champs MikeO had cancer of the piriform fossa. Click on his name and have a look at his profile.